Congress picks three names for MLC seats, leaves one for CPI
Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy appeared to have the last laugh in the selection process as he not only secured seats for his supporters but successfully prevented detractors from getting the party nomination
Hyderabad: Continuing its focus on social empowerment, the Congress on Sunday picked one candidate each from the BC, SC and ST communities for three MLC seats under the MLA quota. The party has left the fourth seat, which the ruling alliance can win, to the Communist Party of India (CPI), apparently at the behest of the party high command.
The BRS, meanwhile, picked Dr Dasoju Shravan for the lone seat which it could win. With all the candidates getting elected unopposed, the March 20 election becomes infructuous.
The last date for filing nominations is Monday.
Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy appeared to have the last laugh in the selection process as he not only secured seats for his supporters but successfully prevented detractors from getting the party nomination.
Revanth Reddy kept his promise of accommodating Addanki Dayakar, senior party leader from the Dalit community, who was denied an Assembly election ticket in the 2023 elections. The nominee from the ST community, Ketavath Shankar Naik, is Nalgonda district Congress president and part of the CM camp. Incidentally, Dayakar also hails from the erstwhile combined Nalgonda district.
The AICC sprang a surprise by picking political turncoat and actress Vijayashanti, who began her political career with the BJP, floated her own party, joined the BRS and the Congress, and again moved to the BJP before returning to the Congress. The CM camp claimed that her name was pushed to prevent other senior leaders from the Backward Classes community from grabbing the seat.
AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday approved the three candidates, according to a press release by party organisation secretary K.C. Venugopal.
The BRS cleared the candidature of Dr Shravan Kumar, whose name had earlier been recommended for nomination under Governor quota when the party was in power. Then Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan did not give her approval for the nomination.
Dr Kumar is active in articulating the party stand as its spokesperson. At one stage, it was rumoured that former MP and BRS president K. Chandrashekar Rao’s confidant B. Vinod Kumar could get the seat. Dr Sravan apparently benefited from Revanth Reddy raising the stakes with the caste census.
Addanki Dayakar (Congress): Played a key role in the statehood movement. After the formation of Telangana, he started his political career with the Congress and contested the 2014 and 2019 Assembly elections from Tungaturthi but lost by a narrow margin. He was denied a ticket in 2023.
Vijayashanti (Congress): Veteran Tollywood actress started her political career by winning the Medak Lok Sabha seat in 2009. She resigned during the Telangana movement. She joined the Congress in 2018 as a star campaigner. She left the party and after moving to different parties and rejoined the Congress in 2023 in the presence of AICC chief Mallikarjuna Kharge.
Ketavath Shankar Naik (Congress): Comes from an agriculture family of Ketavath thanda in Damaracharla mandal of Nalgonda district. In 2001, he was Congress mandal president. He was elected as ZPTC from Damaracharla in 2001. He was elected MPP in 2006 and was in the Congress block committee in 2011. He was re-elected ZPTC in 2018 from Damaracharla. In 2018, he was appointed Nalgonda district Congress committee president.
Dr Dasoju Sravan (BRS): Active leader during the Telangana movement, official spokesperson of the BRS. He also worked as a politburo member of the BRS.
